Phonograph recorder



y 1945. c, G. LJOHNSON 2,375,658

PHONOGRAPH RECORDER Filed Nov. 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l PatentedMay 8, 1945 PHONOGRAPH REfiORDER Carl G. Johnson, Chicago, Ill., assignor to J. P. Seeburg Corporation, a corporation of Illinois Application November 8, 1941, Serial No. 418,311

8 Claims. (Cl. 274-9) This invention relates to phonograph recorders copending application Serial No. 325,111 filed and has for its principal object to provide an improved phonograph recorder.

One of the principal objects is to provide an improved simple phonograph recorder which can readily be manipulated by the public generally for the purpose of making home recordings.

Another object of the invention isto provide an improved mounting for the cutting head, to provide an improved means for controlling the pressure of the cutting head upon the blank, and

to provide improved'means for elevating the cutting head from the recording blank.

A further objectof the invention is to provide improved means for disengaging the recorder arm from the driving lead screw.

A further object of the invention'is to provide a single mechanism adapted to be operated for the joint purpose of elevating the cutting head from the blank and disengaging the recorder arm from the lead screw.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved mounting for the cutting head in the recorder arm whereby the head may readily be removed from and adjusted upon the recorder arm.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 3 Fig. 1 is a plan view'of a phonograph embodying my improvedrecorder mechanism, .the re.- corder arm being shown in operative position;

Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of the recorder arm removed from its mounting on the machine; Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig, 1 showing the recorder arm and associated elements in section;- a

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the recording head elevated and the lead screw engaging element elevated away from the lead screw;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a carriage on which the cutting head is mounted, and

Fig. 6 is a similar view of -a modified form of carriage.

March 21, 1940, now Patent No. 2,351,972,. granted June 20, 1944.

It may be noted that when I employ this phonograph I set the supporting posts Ill and H in position to pla twelve-inch records. Then when the turntable is put into operation by the switch It, the player arm 53 moves into the twelve-inch initial playing position and remains out of contact with the turntable It and the record blank 15 upon which the recording is being made. It will be understood, however, that any suitable means may be provided to disconnect the posts. Ill and ll and the player arm is from the drive of the motor which drives the turntable so that the recording operation, maybe effected without any actuation of the record-changing devices or the player arm It.

The turntable is is driven at uniform speed by a motor (not shown) in well-known manner. The turntable It is rigidly mounted on a spindle It. which is operatively connected to a lead screw H by means of a worm and gear connection.

The lead screw projects in a generally radial direction with respect to the turntable Hl below the motor board it.

The motor drive of the turntable and the interconnection between the spindle it and the lead screw H are not illustrated in detail since these elements may take any desired form. They may, however, be precisely similar to those shown in my copending application Serial No. 329,591 filed April 15, 1940, now Patent No. 2,266,763 granted December 23, 1941. It is to be understood, however, that the lead screw I1 is driven at constant speed while the turntable I4 is driven at its own constant speed. As fullydescribed in the lastmentioned copending application, the turntable Hi is preferably provided with a plunger I B which -is,adapted to extend through an opening in'the' recording blank It? so that the blank is caused positively to rotate with the turntable it.

' The'recorder arm 20 maysuitably be of gen- It will be understood that my improved recorder mechanism may be applied to any phonograph having a turntable or to a recording machine having a turntable and not equipped with a reproducing player arm. For home use, however, it is preferable to mount my recording .devices upon an automatic phonograph and in Fig. 1 I have shown my recorder applied to the automatic phonograph described and claimed in my eral box formation, being open on its under side, as shown in Fig. 2. The recorder arm 20 is provided with two set screws M which are adapted to extend into openings 22 in vertical webs 23 of a supporting member 26. The supporting member 24 comprises a collar portion 25 from which the two vertical webs 23 extendupwardly,

these vertical webs being located in parallelism. The collar 25 is adapted to be secured by means of a set screw 26 to a sleeve 27 which is located vertically and is adapted to be rotated on a vertiabutting against the memberdl.

cal axis in a standard 28 rigidly ecured to the motor board It.

. Rigidly mounted on the lower'end of the sleeve 21 and below the motor board i8 is a bracket 29 which is also rigidly secured to the sleeve 21.

The collar portion 25 of the supporting member 24 and the boss of the bracket 29 hold the sleeve 21 against movement in the vertical direction.

, An extension of the bracket 29 provides a pivot 32 which connects one end of the member 38 to a lug 33 on the bracket. I have also shown a leaf spring 34 mounted on the bracket 25 and It will, of course, be understood that either of these springs or any other suitable spring arrangement may be used for securing engagement between the member 3| and the lead screw ll.

The end of the lever or member 3i remote fromthe lead screw it carries an upwardly directed set screw 35 which is adapted to engage the lower end of a rod 36 slidably mounted in the sleeve 2i. The upper end of the rod 35 is adapted to be engaged and depressed by a. crank.

31 formed at one end of a rod 38.

The rod .38 is pivotally mounted in posts 35 depending from the upper wall of the arm 20 as best seen in Figs. 3 and 4. The other end of the rod 38 is formed into a similar crank 40- which is adapted to be engaged by a cam M rigidly carried by a shaft 42 which extends across the arm 20 and is provided with suitable bearings in the side webs thereof.

' recording blank 4'l located on the turntable M.

The needle 46 is held in the head by means of a set screw 48 and the outer end of the arm 20 is provided with a slot 49 to permit the set screw 48 to moveup and down as may be required.

The head 45 is rigidly mounted on a carriage 50 which is best seen in Fig. 5. The carriage includes two bracket members 5i which terminate in knife-edge portions 52. These knife-edge portions 52 are normally located in suitable recesses in a pair of brackets 53 which depend from the upper wall of the arm 25.

The knife-edge portions 52 are in these recesses by means of a spring which is secured to a suitable abutment on the arm 20 andto web 55 of the carriage 5b. .This web 55 is preferably located in alignment with the knifeedge portions 52 so that the spring 54 merely retains the lread in mounted position without at fectingthe pressure on the needle d3. l

The carriage 50 also comprises a web 55 which is out of alignment with the web 55 and the knifeedge portions 52. To the web 56 is connected a spring 51, the other end of which is connected to a sliding member 58. The sliding member 58 is mounted on a'boss 59 on the inside of the normally held arm 20 and it is provided with a slot 60 through which extends a shaft 6 l. is held to the boss 59 by a cam 52 rigidly mounted on the lower end of the shaft 6i.

The cam member 52 is adapted to engage an abutment 33 termed on the sliding member 58. The upper end of the shaft 6! carries a knurled button 64 which is'located on the upper side of the arm 20. By rotating the button 64, the shaft BI and the cam 62 are likewise displaced. It will readily be understood, by referring to Fig. 2, that when the button 54 is rotated, the sliding member 58 moves so as to vary the tension on the spring 51. Since the tension on the spring El is applied to the head45 out of alignment with is pivotal mounting, such adjustment varies the pressure of the head, or rather its needle 45 upon the recording blank 3?.

The sliding member 58 is provided with an upturned lug tiwhich is provided with a recess to receive a rib 66 on the arm 20. The engage.-

ment of the rib 66 with the recess in the lug 65 prevents thesliding member 55 from moving in any direction except in the longitudinal direction I of the arm 20.

The carriage 50 isprovided with an extension 61 which projects from the carriage in a direction away from the knife edges and away from the head 45. This extension 6? is located below a cam 68 which is also carried by the shaft42. The cam 68 is so located that the head 45 is in the lower cutting position when the arm 43 is in the relation shown in Fig. 2. 7

When the arm 43 is swung from this position upwardly, the cam 68 engages the extension 6'! and the cutting head is elevated from cutting position into its position in Fig. 4. head has been raised, the cam 4i engages the crank 40 and the crank 31 is swung downwardly, depressing the rod 36 and elevating the member 3| away from the leadscrew ll. This relation is shown inFig. 4. It may be noted that the head 45 is elevated before the member 3! so that the arm 20 is held against translational moveblank 47.

When the head 45 and the member 3! are both elevated, the recorder arm 20 may be swung to its inoperative position, clear of the turntable, and in this position the member 38* is located above a recess 69 in a bracket 15 mounted on the under side of the motor board l8. The arm 43 may then be swung forwardly, into its position in Fig. 2, with the result that the head 45 is again moved downwardly and the member 3! is caused to enter the recess 69, holding the arm 20 in inoperative position, clear of the turntable, until the member 3| is again elevated by actuation of the lever 43. g

The arm 26 has a normal horizontal position which is defined by a set screw H mounted on the arm 20 and adapted to abut against one of the webs 23 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The arm 20 can, of course, be elevated manually about its pivot provided by the set screws 22,

The degree of pressure of the needle 46 upon the recording blank 4! can be adjusted by manipulation of the knurled button 64 which button, when moved from its position in Fig. 2, increases the tension of the spring 51. increase of this spring tension being applied on the web 52 above the pivot of the head 45, decreases the effect of the weight of the head 45 upon the needle.

In some cases where the head 45 is of insufficient weight, the spring 51 is arranged to ap The sliding member 58 After the ply extra downward pressure upon the needle 46. This may be effected by merely turning the Inc 52' downwardly as shown in Fig. 6 instead of the upwardly directed lug 52 shown in Fig. 5. In this construction, actuation of the knurled button 64 and cam 62 from the position of Fig. 2 will eflect increase of pressure upon the needle 46.

Although the invention has been described in connection with specific .;d'etails of a preferred embodiment thereof, it must be understood that such details are not intended to be limitative of a the invention except in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described by invention, I declare that what I claim is:

1. In a recorder, in combination, a recorder arm arranged to swing over a disc on a turn table, a cutting head pivotally mounted within the arm, a tension spring connected to said head, a member mounted on said arm for slidable bodily displacement connected to said spring whereby the tension of'said spring may be adjusted by the bodily displacement of said member thereby controlling the needle pressure of said cutting head, and cam means on the arm for controlling the displacement and-position of said slidable member whereby the needle pressure can be adjusted to desired degree;

2. In a recorder, in combination, a recorder arm, a cutting head pivotally mounted within said recorder arm, resilient means normally holding said head in a normal operating position, manual means mounted upon said recorder arm adapted positively to engage said head to move the head positively against the action of said resilient means into inoperative position within said arm when said manual means is actuated.

3. In combination, a recorder arm, a cutting head, complementary knife-edge pivot means on said arm and said cutting head providing pivotal support for the cutting head on said arm, a spring extending between said cutting head and said arm in substantial alignment with the axis of saidpivot means whereby the knife-edge pivot elements are held together, and a spring connected to said arm and to said head out of alignment with the pivotal axis for adjusting the needle weight of said head.

4. In combination, a, recorder and, a cutting r head, complementary knife-edge pivot means on said arm and said cutting head providing pivotal support for the cutting head on said arm, a spring extending between said cutting head and said arm whereby the knife-edge pivot elements are held together, a spring connected to said arm and to said head out of alignment with the pivotal axis for adjusting the needle weight of said head, and manually actuated cam means on said arm for adjusting the tension of last said spring.

.5. In combination, a recorder arm, a pivotally mounted vertical support on which said recorder arm is pivotally mounted, a lead screw' following member pivotally mounted on said pivotally, mounted support, spring means for biassing said lead screw following member into operative position, a rod slidably mounted within saidpivotal- 1y mounted support and adapted to engage said lead screw following member, and manually operable means on the recorder arm whereby said rod may be displaced to effect movement of the lead screw following member out of its operative position.

s. In combinatio a recorder arm, a. pivotally mounted vertical support on which said recorder arm is pivotally mounted, a lead screw following member pivotally mounted on said pivotally mounted support, spring means for biassing said lowing member out of operative position.

7. In combination, a recorder arm, a pivotally mounted vertical support on which said arm is pivotally mounted, a lead screw following member pivotally mounted on said pivotally mounted support, spring means for biass'ing said lead screw following member into operative position, a rod slidably mounted within said pivotally mounted support and adapted to engage said lead screw following member, crank means mounted on said arm adapted to engage the up-,

per end of said rod, a cutting head pivotally mounted on said arm, means defining the operative position of said cutting head relative to said arm, and manual control means swinging said' head into inoperative position and for actuating said crank means to efl'ect longitudinal displacement of said rod and the removal of said lead screw following member out of operative posi tion.

8. In a recorder for phonograph records, in combination, a recording arm, adiustable stop means for defining a generally horizontal record, ing position of said arm, said arm being maintained in said position by its weight, a pivotally mounted vertical support on which said arm is pivotally mounted, a recording head pivotally mounted on said arm in unbalanced relation whereby its weight tends to move its cutting needle downwardly towards the record blank, a, tension member connected to said recording head on the side of its pivot remote from the needle, a. cam mounted on said arm and arranged to control said tension member whereby the normal position of the head relative to said arm may be controlled by said cam, a lead screw following member pivotally mounted on said pivotally-mounted support, a rod extending through said pivotally-mounted support and adapted to engage said lead screw following member, crank means mounted on said arm adapted to engage the upper end of said rod, and manual control means on said arm for simultaneously actuating said crank means and said head, whereby the lead screw following member is moved into inoperative position and the recording head is elevated from its operative position determined by said tension member. a

' CARL G. JOHNSON. 

